Two royal tombs at Nakum

Yesterday National Geographic published photos and information about two royal tombs found by Polish archaeologists working at Nakum, Guatemala. These tombs are placed on top of each other. At the bottom is a well preserved female burial, roughly 2000 years old and her head is placed in-between two bowls. Another royal tomb was found above this one but the skeleton is less well preserved so the gender of the interred is unknown. It is roughly 700 years younger. One interesting find in the upper tomb is that nine flint knives were found and at least four of them has been painted in blue “sacrificial” color. Number nine associates with the Underworld. The upper tomb also contained a jade pectoral with inscriptions mentioning the nearby site of Yaxha. The pectoral is believed to be a family heir loom since the hieroglyphs are carved in a style that is roughly 300 years older than the tomb.